Thread: Why do certain Pokemon only evolve when they're traded?

To further illustrate what I mean by:

Originally Posted by V Faction

Well how ELSE is Kadabra going to eat two bowls of cereal with only one spoon? Evolving to Alakazam when traded makes so much sense when you consider the other guy has the second cereal bowl.

^I lol'ed, hard

Originally Posted by V Faction

So, that brand would be from Kellogs. Hmm, I've always thought it would be from Nestlé.

I don't really follow the anime, and have just started getting into the Pokemon Adventures manga. So, let's assume for a moment that the worlds shown in the anime and manga follow the rules laid out in the games.

I've seen some good ideas in this thread so far. The idea that there's a spiritual or psychic bond between pokemon and trainer, and altering that bond via the pokemon changing owners as a trigger for evolution seems like a good possibility, especially for pokemon like Alakazam and Gengar.

Then again, there's also a pretty good reason why the anime and manga (from my experience so far) have avoided trying to answer this question: it was a gimmick to promote the games, and there is no reason they can come up with that doesn't sound tacked-on badly.

In my personal opinion, and speaking as a worldbuilding geek, that's how it should be done. It's an obvious gimmick that could easily be removed from fan-made attempts at recreating the Pokemon world without having any real impact on the world itself. If you can find a way to fit trade-evolutions into your story and version of the world without making it sound tacky or cheap, then go for it.

The reason differs by pokemon
For graveler and haunter the trading compresses them into a more solid shape
For kadabra it learns a lot by observing the digital trasnfer of pokemon and its new iq evolves it.
For machoke his power contraint belt doesn't fit in the link cable.
For all that evolve by trade with item the item is bonded by the compression.

Note: Link cable causes compression

what about with wi-fi trades, or the wireless thing that came with Fr/Lg

Originally Posted by 062regrahc

what about with wi-fi trades, or the wireless thing that came with Fr/Lg

For a pokemon to be traded wirelessly it has to be turned into data which also has to be compressed or it would be too big to be digitally moved.

My guess is that the traumatic experience of being traded away like an object triggers a biological response in some pokemon to grow stronger (so that you woint be given away again).

My theory is that when a pokémon is traded, it transform into some weird mass, some pokémon have unstable DNA, so, when transformed into mass and re-transformed into actual DNA, it changes, thus making the pokémon different, and for items is simple, the item fuses with the pokémon as they become mass.

Well, you see, Machoke got bored in the Union Room and decided to try lifting 4 300lb weights at a time. So by evolving, he gets stronger AND can pick up four things at a time. He then evolves after the trade to show off so he'll always be first in line in battle.

That's how Machoke evolves. Live with it,.

To promote games/playing games together. Pokemon has always been about connecting with other people through the game, and this was a natural extension of that.

Personally, I like the "radiation emitted by the trade machine" idea. For one, Machamp having two extra arms does fit the stereotypical "radiation makes you grow extra body parts" idea; Golem could be a chemical reaction in Graveler's outer rock surface triggered by the radiation; similar idea for Gengar, where the chemical reaction causes Haunter to become more solid and grow more body parts (like his feet); and Alakazam simply had Kadabra's already-enhanced brain mutated to further enhancement by the waves.

Of course, there's also...

Originally Posted by V Faction

Well how ELSE is Kadabra going to eat two bowls of cereal with only one spoon? Evolving to Alakazam when traded makes so much sense when you consider the other guy has the second cereal bowl.

I'm tempted to just say [/thread] here.

I'm siding with 'the act of digitizing them causes evolution' team on this one. In gen 1&2 you even see the pokemon physically moved through an electronic device and a cable in the game world. That actually made me wonder about something though. In Gen 4 when trading you see the pokeball fly out of a DS shaped object, but I can't remember any objects ingame that resembled a DS. Is that what the pokedex looks like?

Originally Posted by Autumn Torterra

For graveler and haunter the trading compresses them into a more solid shape

Except that Gengar weighs like 90lbs and all that new mass would have to come from somewhere. If Haunter's mass was just compressed it would result in a very tiny Gengar.

I always looked at in-game trade-for-evolution items as physical representations of characteristics of the Pokemon.

For example, the Metal Coat represents the toughening of the exoskeletion through training and repeated erosion and healing due to experience in battle; eventually, the exoskeleton accrues a metal-like quality. Eventually, this 'metal coat' causes an evolution into the next stage (Onix -> Steelix, Scyther -> Scizor). The trading aspect would be like a metabolic shift or something; the change in environment forces the Pokemon to assume a stronger form to be prepared for any new dangers, much like how environmental changes help determine natural selection.

In the same vein:
Dragon Scale: Sign that the Pokemon's scales are growing harder and sharper.
DeepSeaScale/Tooth: Sign that the Pokemon's scales/teeth are growing more accustomed to battle in high-pressure environments.
King's Rock: Since the strongest Pokemon in the pack is both a) bound to be the leader and b) more likely to evolve, the obtaining of the position, represented by acquisition of the King's Rock, triggers the final evolution.

etc.

Maybe when traded, the Pokemon thinks that their original trainer didn't think they are strong enough for himself/herself, so they evolve to show them that they can be strong.